London council registers new provider

In Somers Town, the landlord is preparing to take over and manage 34 new affordable homes for social rent.

There will be a variety of homes available, including family-sized flats. Described as “modern and spacious blocks”, they were named in summer 2024 by the local community.

The landlord is expecting the new homes to be available in the next few months.

Camden Council began last year with the news that daily mould reports had dropped by 88%.

The local authority was receiving 100 requests for mould inspections from tenants every day at the end of 2022, however this figure dropped to 12 by the end of last year.

At the start of November, Camden successfully defended an improvement notice it made against a building owner to tackle unsafe cladding.

Camden Council issued the notice to Hazlewood Properties Limited under Section 11 of the Housing Act 2004 in October 2023.

It was supposed to compel Hazlewood, the building owner, to remediate unsafe cladding at Princes Park Apartments, 52 Prince of Wales Road, in London.

However, the firm lodged an appeal against the notice in November 2023.

The council’s private sector housing service had been engaging with Hazlewood since June 2020, but despite reassurances from managing agents, no action had been taken to remedy fire safety issues.

The decision, handed down by the First-tier Tribunal, upholds the council’s notice and highlights concerns about the delays by the property owner in addressing fire safety risks.

A few weeks after this improvement notice was defended, the council was reprimanded by the Housing Ombudsman after an investigation found evidence of a “dismissive” attitude and a “defensive” culture around dealing with residents’ complaints.